The Open Rift
THE OPEN RIFT The rift between worlds has reopened and now the different worlds are free to '' ''collide Prologue Her mind crumpled under the force of the impact. '' ''Her thoughts stopped and her eyes rolled back into her head. Her heart slowed until it stopped beating, And her chest slowed until she stopped breathing. Her senses left her, leaving her empty body helplessly alone in the dark dungeon. Her mind was a pit of pain. She no longer saw the earth in detail, all she saw in her mind was the reminants of a destroyed universe. Her paws left the ground and her body seemed to float in midair. All she felt, saw, smelled and heard was a pit of pain calling out to her to fall in to it. She had already done so and it had torn the universe open and the rift was once more in existence. She had fallen into the pit that destroyed her universe and her heart, soul, body and mind. She needed to bring all of the past back to the present... ...Before the rift would swallow it all. Interlude Stormfrost opened her deep, ocean blue eyes and found herself in the middle of a dark, gloomy, unfamiliar clearing. The trees the overhanged it were blackened by what seemed had been a fire, but Stormfrost didn't think it had been fire blackening the trees. "Had you thought that the trees were blackened by fire, I would have had second guessing about who I chose." Stormfrost bristled in surprise as a cat, who seemed to be glowing, stepped out from behind some thick, dark and gloomy bushes gathered around the clearing. '' ''"Who are you?" Stormfrost demanded shakily, her claws unsheathed and digging into the dirt. "Someone," the cat replied smoothly. '' ''Stormfrost barely fought back the urge to attack the strange cat, before she repeated her question, gritting her teeth, "who are you?" The cat purred, "Foresteye. I have come to assist you, and become..." He smiled. "Your friend." Stormfrost growled, "I don't want to be your friend." Foresteye purred again and his smile widened. "You will. Eventually." '' ''Stormfrost protested, "no I won't. Now shut uo and leave my head!" Foresteye's smile vanished and he said to her firmly, "I wil not leave yet." "Why?" "You need to know something." "What?" Foresteye sighed deeply before a weak smile returned to his face, highlighting his handsome features once more. Stormfrost didn't care, she hated him nonetheless. '' ''"The rift will open and worlds will die." '' ''Her vision faded into nothingness, and she opened her eyes only to find herself back in her nest, at her home. One Arith looked over her Kingdom of Peace, her soft, glossy fur blowing in the wind. She had been Ruler of the Earth Kingdom for two seasons now, and all was peaceful with those from earth, (the ones she ruled over), and the Satels, (those from the world, Gyda). Arith had loved the thrill of leading so many cats, and she still did. There was one problem she had yet to take care of though. The Clans. Centuries ago, the Clans had vialated their agreement with the Satels and the Earth Kingdom, betraying their trust and almost wiping out both enemy races. Somehow though, the Satels had managed to banish the Clans from the agreement and had trapped them in a certain place on earth. That was when the rift closed. The guards of the rift, the Satels were called occasionally, due to their connection to the great abis named the rift. Arith admired the Satels because of their willpower and strength of mind. She had neither of those traits. But, just the Satels, the Earth Kingdom had some special things too... They had wings. And they had special powers that only they held in their paws. Arith's power was that she could control storms. She stretched her pitch black, feathery wings before letting them move with the winds. Standing tall and proud on the cliff she had named, Tarina, meaning Place of Speech, ''Arith was a figure of royalty and purity. Nothing compared to the Satels of course. She closed her eyes and remembered the rift, which she had seen with her own eyes when she had visited Gyda. The Satel Palace had been awe inspiring and everything else was beautiful as moon crystals. She folded in her wings lightly and leaped off the cliff, hearing the startled yowls of her people below. "Arith! What the heck are you doing?" Shrieked her destined-to-be-mate Etari, his own, mottled brown fur bristled as he dashed over to see what had become of his leader and destined-to-be-mate. Arith was flat on her back, barely containing her laughter at Etari's shocked expression. "You-you're okay?" He stammered. "You are, okay, right?" Arith laughed. "Of course I am!" She leaped to her paws and showed off her wings. "It helps when you can fly!" Etari blushed. He was a ''Rosian, ''meaning ''Non-Flier. ''Usually, the leader of the Earth Kingdom had to be a ''Korintha, meaning a flier, and they could only become mates with another flier. Etari and Arith were a special case. She quickly pulled in her wings, feeling her pelt grow hot. She realised a lot of her people were staring at her and Etari, and she cleared her throat. "Continue with your duties." Everyone obeyed. Etari cast her a look. "Sometimes, and I mean, most of the time, ''I wish we weren't destined to be mates." Arith grimaced. "Same here." The reason they were a special case was that the one who had to be the ruler's mate was the firstborn kit of the opposing gender to the ruler and who was the same age as the ruler, or heir, depending on the time. Etari had been the only kit born before Arith turned the age where she began with her duties as heir. Lucky them. They had never been friends in their earlier life, but when Arith was nine moons old, Etari and her began to become really close friends, but never had they realised they'd have to be mates when they were older. That was when the wedge breaking their formerly close friendship appeared. Arith shook her head and told Etari in a scolding sort of way, "go back to your duties." Etari glared at her. "Fine." He stalked off, through the waterfall and out into the outside world. The Earth Kingdom was a sanctuary, built by the Satels. it was a huge sanctuary, fenced off by rock walls to the outside world. The only way in or out was to go through the waterfall. Arith, being the ruler, could simply fly out through the rock wall; being ruler left her with the ability to melt through objects and reform on the other side. "Arith! Snap out of your daydreams!" It was the Kingdom's watcher, Anaka, whose eyes bore annoyance. No one disobeyed her, not even Arith. "Fine." She looked up at Anaka, who glared down at her from her perch in a tree. Anaka was a strange case in her race, she had wings and antlers. It was rumoured she was half-earthling, causing her to be the watcher for the Earth Kingdom. Arith despised of Anaka. She had no idea why the watcher annoyed her, she just did. Arith turne on her heels and was determined to continue not looking at Anaka as she stalked away, trying to find something for her to do. The only thing that irritated Arith about being a ruler, was that she had no work to do. She enjoyed being busy, but eversince she had begun her era of leadership, all responsabilities went away. Most of the time she went hunting in the outside world, but there was enough prey in the Kingdom at the moment to last a good while. She sighed deeply and slumped over to Tyehi, who stood in the centre of the MASSIVE clearing, looking over the ''Korinthans ''with pride, almost completely ignoring the ''Rosians, ''who darted around the clearing, trying to find work to do. It was commonly known that the fliers and non-fliers were rare to be friends, and did not converse much with each other, but they were still generally nice to one another. "Tyehi," she began awkwardly. "Do you have any work for me to do?" Tyehi flat out said no, refusing to give the Queen work to do, ignoring her desperate protests. "Honestly Tyehi! I order you to give me work to do!" Arith rasped exasperatedly, seeing Tyehi's nostrils flare. The tom frowned at her and narrowed his eyes, before saying quietly, "I dare not disobey your orders, my Queen." "Since you have ordered me to, you can go to the outside world and check the edges of our territory, in case of Clan cats. And, while you're at it," he added. "You can gather herbs to sort and identify. Take the herbs to Anaka afterwards, who will take it from there." Arith nodded and stretched her magnificent wings, taking flight with ease. She flew through the waterfall, feeling calmed by the splashes of water against her pelt and her face. She emerged on the otherside, flapping her great wings, steering herself over towards the treeline marking the edge of the territory. She lowered herself slowly and landed softly at the border, folding in her wings gently. "Nothing," she hissed to herself, after returning to her starting spot after completeing her border search. "Not one, little thing out of line. Everything identical to what it was yesterday!" She clawed the ground in frustration, padding into the forest, on the lookout for herbs she did not recognise. She eventually stumbled on an unfamiliar plant, and she bent her head low to it, sniffing it. It smelled of the Satels. "A herb that the Satels put here themselves!" It was very rare that the earthlings ever found a herb that the Satels planted themselves, and when one did find a herb like such, it was celebrated by the discoverer. Arith picked the herb with glee and stowed it in her woven herb holder, which was hoisted over her back at the moment, so when she flew back she did not loose the herbs. Her mother had crafted the holder perfectly, and Arith had used it ever since she was ready to begin her duties not just as Queen, but as the previous heir. She went back, forgetting about other herbs she was supposed to collect. When she arrived back in the Earth Kingdom, Anaka was waiting patiently in the middle on the clearing, shadows under her eyes. Anaka didn't sleep well on earth, that was widely known. "I found a Satel planted herb!" Arith told the watcher breathlessly, taking the herbs from the holder and passing them to Anaka, who looked over the herbs with barely any curiosity. "You're acting childish," Anaka commented, seeing Arith pratically bouncing with excitement. Arith settled down, grooming her chest self-conciously. "It seems this is a herb called, ''Abrassia. ''As I have learned, this herb is used to sooth coughing." Arith felt somewhat let down. She was expecting the herb to do something magical, not something ordinary. "So, basically it's tansy?" Anaka nodded and Arith felt her tail droop. Anaka raised her eyebrows. "Are you upset about what ''Abrassia ''does? Were you expecting something grander, something... extraordinary?" Arith felt ashamed. She knew Anaka would critisize her for her childish thinking. She nodded and Anaka scolded her with words like, 'you should know better." And never think like a child! You are the Queen!' And finally Arith snapped out. "Stop telling me off for stupid reasons! I am not acting like a child, nor do I think like one!" Anaka unsheathed her claws and they glinted in the sunlight; Arith backed away, unsheathing her own claws. "Never, speak to me like that!" Anaka screeched, knocking Arith away with one mighty swipe of her paws. Arith stumbled and fell against a rock, feeling the alarmed gazes of her people boring into her pelt. She got to her shaky paws but stumbled again, only to see the shadow of Anaka swooping down on her, eyes blazing with a hard fury. "Did you hear me?" She asked dangerously, placing her claws on Arith's exposed neck, her teeth bared. Arith gulped but said nothing. "Did you hear me?!" Anaka yowled, sinking her claws a little into Arith's neck. Arith started to cough, and that was when a weight threw Anaka away, a black shadow, soaring over Arith's head. "Thank you, Onkree!" She rasped, staggering over to her cousin who was pressing his claws to Anaka's throat, who folded in her wings, as though to not break them. "No problem. Lean on me," he added firmly, letting Arith slump on him, resting her head on his broad shoulders. Arith felt her eyes droop, and then she felt another warm pelt press against hers. She opened one eye and closed it quickly. The other cat was Etari, who seemed to be playing the 'I love you and won't let anything happen to you' game. Arith heard Anaka say feebly, "I'm terribly sorry! I didn't mean what I seemed to!" Onkree seemed to believe her, as Arith felt her cousin let Anaka up, who sighed weakly. "I am sorry. I do not know what came over me," Anaka rumbled and Arith opened her eyes. She saw blood running down Anaka's chest and realised Onkree had slashed her throat. Anaka's head was bowed and she mumbled, "I am at your mercy." Although, Arith detected the sly sneer in her tone. Arith growled, "no. I am at yours, you stupid watcher." Arith heard the gasps echo around her, but she did not care. This watcher had too much nerve all of a sudden and it had gotten on Arith's last thread of nerve. "Honestly! Try to be nicer, then maybe I'll respect you." Anaka didn't seem to hear, but she retreated to her den carved into the boulder next to the middle of the Kingdom, muttering in strange languages. Onkree moved closer to me and whispered, "are you okay? That was very daring of you, to talk to our watcher like that." There was no admiration in his tone, only concern and anger. Arith shot him a weak glare, but looked at Etari, ignoring Onkree's question. "Thank you, Etari. For helping me," she murmured to him and the golden-brown tom murmured back, "I almost didn't help you. But I knew it was the right thing, and besides," he cut off, embarrassment crossing over his face. "I'm destined to be your mate. I should ajust to it. I realised that while hunting. I may not be happy with it, but I hae to ajust. Soon," he added and I shook my head, barely taking in what he said. "Take me to Rocket," I raspily ordered Onkree and Etari. Etari hesitated, but he did not hesitate for any random reason. The tiny body of Rocket was hurrying over, her jaws already filled to the brim with the herbs Anaka had looked over and approved of. "I can treat you here," she told me firmly, in her surprisingly deep voice. She placed the herbs in their piles, the same herb with other peices of the same herb, before gritting her teeth and turning to me. "Show me where she hurt you." I noticed how Rocket refused to use the name, 'Anaka', but I showed her my neck. "She didn't do any severe damage," Rocket concluded, plastering a herb poltice to Arith's neck, who shivered as the jolt of cold hit her open wound. Cobwebs were stretched over the wound, protecting it and making it look as though Arith had some snow tucked under her chin. It was mostly concealed though. Rocket slipped away, carrying her remaining herbs with her, leaving Arith laying down in the middle of the Kingdom's home. "Did Rocket fix you up?" Etari asked casually, lying down next to her. Arith looked away from him, ignoring his comments on how he had come to realise our destiny was unavoidable. "Why aren't you listening to me?" He finally asked, clearly impatient. Arith glared at him before hissing, "stop. You're playing the game I don't like. Stop pretending you love me. I know you hate me." She got up, leaving a fuming Etari sitting in the clearing, and she stormed over to her den, which was HUGE. I saw my servant, Claudia, waiting for me patiently, her eyes baring worry and relief. "I thoughtv Anaka may have destroyed you," she mumbled, looking away, forgetting that servants were not allowed to speak. Claudia had been born a runt in her litter of ''Rosians, ''so she was forced to become a servant. She had been born three moons before Arith, and had been serving Arith's father, who was the previous ruler of the Earth Kingdom. Arith didn't mind Claudia, but she did not like being in her presence. She had refused to help Claudia when she had been savaged by a pack of dogs the Clans had lead into the Kingdom's forests. Arith thought of Claudia as someone she knew, that was all. Arith settled in her nest and ordered Claudia to groom her. She closed her eyes and let the rasping of Claudia's tongue, destroying the knots in Arith's fur comfort her. Claudia nudged Arith a few hours later, and Arith opened her eyes. "Yes?" She snapped, imediately regretting it. Claudia showed her that a cat was waiting outside. Arith left flicking her tail. "Sevita! Valencia! Nice to see you again!" The two cats, one a Satel, another a rogue, lead her to the willow trees crowding around the back of my den. "We are overjoyed to see you again, Arithmatine," said Valencia, the Satel, whoose eyes betraying no happiness, no joy. Arith told her, "call me Arith, please." Valencia shook her head. "It is emplied by law that I call you Arithmatine," she persisted. "Fine." Arith turned to Sevita, who had not spoken. The white she-cat with brown splashes all over her pelt avoided Arith's gaze, looking awkward. Arith flicked her tail before eyeing Valencia with some doubt. "What did you come here for?" She asked the Satel, who responded thickly, "something. Which you will find out sooner or later. Now, where is Anaka?" Arith almost clawed herself. Of course! Word had probably reached the Satels, and Dako, (Dakota), had likely been VERY angry at one of Anaka's powerful race having lashed out at an Earthling. "She's sulking up in her den. It's her favourite place to sulk," Arith added bitterly, her ears pinned back. Valencia cast her an, 'are you really daring to speak like that?' look and Arith shrugged. "I can speak however I dare," she muttered behind Valencia's back, who was hurriedly padding up to Anaka's den. Sevita flicked her gaze from me to Anaka's den, and mumbled, "you really should watch how you talk about Anaka. Valencia is a Satel, remember?" "How could I not remember?" Arith shot at Sevita, who visibly flinched. Arith ignored this, and told Sevita loftily, "why don't you go over and ask Etari for a job to do?" Sevita had no wings, so she was considered something of a ''Rosian ''so she always asked Etari for work to do when she visited, not Tyehi. Sevita scurried off, clearly glad to be away from Arith's cold gaze. Arith turned away, her heat beating fast and strong in her chest and her lungs hurriedly reaching for air. She ripped off the cobwebs, then the herbs, but it did nothing to ease her breathing. She had never enjoyed not being nice to Sevita, but now, she seemed like she would die if she did not change how she treated the loner. "Arithmatine! Anaka has some news for you!" Valencia rushed over, looking rather harassed, Anaka following, looking relieved and pleased with herself. "You will be receiving a new watcher, just to test out how well it would be without me here. I will return to my race, in my universe, until the week has passed. Understand?" Anaka said gleefully. Arith breathed a sigh of relief. "Any, watcher and I mean, 'any 'watcher, will be better than her." Valencia looked reproachful, but Anaka seemed to let off a subtle smile. "I understand where you gather this from. I will be gone for a week, and if the new watcher prefers it here, they will stay, and I will go, 'forever." Arith felt a wave of unwanted concern ripple through her. Anaka had been the Kingdom's watcher ever since Arith had been a kit and she had become used to Anaka's watchful eye. A new watcher might not agree with her people. "Look, I stand by what I said before in that any watcher would be better than ''her'''." She cut off and threw a dirty glare at Anaka. "But some of my people grew up with her, and I would like to give all of my people a say in this." Valencia seemed thoughtful, but Anaka was clearly furious. "But-I-" Anaka spluttered, too furious to resolve in real speech. Valencia said, "I think that sounds fair. Why don't you hold a meeting?" Arith nodded and opened her magnificent wings, rising into the air and flying over to ''Tarina, ''where she landing and yowled, "all cats old enough to claim a position in the Kingdom gather beneath ''Tarina ''for a gathering!" Many cats pooled out of the dens beneath her and perked their ears, keen to listen. It was part of the Satels' magicks that allowed the cats below to hear speeches from atop ''Tarina ''because it was such a high cliff. "Anaka is preparing to leave us." Much uproar started, but many seemed to agree with it. "Anaka had been with us since before you were born!" Screeched an enraged cat named Dyana, her ''Kabrian ''cowering beside her. Arith pinned her ears back. "Listen!" She yowled and her people fell silent, immediately. "It was not my choice! Anaka wants to leave, and Royal Dakota has not been happy with her." Much uproar started again and another cat, this one, a ''Rosian by the name of Prewitt screeched, "if this was Anaka's choice then let the Satel and her discuss it! I say Arith takes Anaka to Gyda to discuss options!" Arith nodded. "Nice idea Prewitt." She spied out of the corner of her eye Valencia nodding carefully, her eyes closed and Sevita struggling to pin Anaka down on the ground, even with Uki's assistance. Arith was barely focussing on them, rather on the task of getting Anaka through the portal to Gyda. TBC